Onion Lake Cree Nation to proceed with its legal challenge of Alberta sovereignty act
EDMONTON — Alberta's bill lowering the bar for a separation referendum has spurred a First Nation, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, to push ahead with a legal challenge against the premier's flagship sovereignty act.
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Danielle Smith has said her Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act is needed to push back on what the province believes is unconstitutional federal encroachment into provincial jurisdiction.
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But Onion Lake Cree Nation Chief Henry Lewis said that law has always been about undermining federal authority and asserting provincial control, which goes against his community's Treaty 6 relationship with the Crown.
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'I want to respectfully remind the premier that this land that we stand on today is treaty land and is not yours to take or make sweeping decisions about,' he said at a news conference in Edmonton on Thursday.
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He announced the legal challenge is moving forward a day after Smith's government passed a bill significantly lowering the threshold for citizens to prompt a referendum, including one on seceding from Canada.
The First Nation filed a statement of claim in 2022, but lawyer Robert Hladun said the community put it on pause, hoping for a resolution with the government.
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'We waited for consultation, waited for some participation. We waited for some respect. None of that happened,' he said.
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Another lawyer representing the community, Michael Marchen, said the sovereignty act is an effective derogation of Onion Lake Cree Nation's sovereignty and jurisdiction, and they are asking for the court to declare it have no legal force.
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'It was enacted wholly without input, consultation or consideration of the plaintiff's concerns, which is contrary to the spirit of (the) treaty and in derogation of the honour of the Crown,' he said.
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Smith has said she wants Alberta to stay in Canada, but Lewis says the referendum legislation signals that the province is pushing a separatist agenda.
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'I stand here today to remind the premier and her government that we do not stand by and allow our treaty to be violated, disregarded and pushed aside while the talk of separation continues,' said Lewis.
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But the 'Keep Saskatchewan in Canada Act' failed to reach debate during the spring sitting of the legislature. During the last day of session Thursday, Premier Scott Moe said he would not allow the bill to go to a vote, questioning the rationale for an increase to the plebiscite formula.
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